Fan stand



April 15, 1958 H. wEN'lrLlNG FAN STAND 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 G RW mn M EN R VE O mw. T H T A M U iw W ww Y .B 9 1 ml-.

lf n im.

Filed Feb. 21, 1955 April ,15, 1958 Filed Feb. 21, 1955 FIG-4 FI -5 v14 G :v 41a 40 3' 77 26 i Elia i Z5 76 \g\ Q IEN i' y l l FIG-6 FIG-7 as 'es FFV \r 59 65 es .57 58 56 if', 63 gg l 4s l @E 51 56 52 sa 5o gz l zo INVENTOR.

1o WILLIAM H.WENTL|NG H. wENTLlNG '2,830,779

FAN STAND 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS lUnited States FAN STAND William H. Wentling, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to The Lau Blower Company, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio This invention relates to stands for mounting air circulating fans.

A primary object of the invention is to provide a stand for a Ventilating fan which will support the fan in any desired angular position and which also is adjustable vertically over a substantial range with minimum requirements of effort on the part of the user and essentially without requiring manual operation of locking members for retaining the fan in a desired vertically adjusted position.

An additional special object of the invention is to provide a fan stand as outlined above which incorporates a locking mechanism of such construction and mode of operation that the fan will be automatically held in any vertically adjusted position after being raised to such position and released, while in addition the locking mechanism can be readily released when it is desired to shift the fan to a lower position.

lt is also an object of the invention to provide a vertically adjustable fan stand wherein the component parts are proportioned in such cooperative relation with each other and with the fan that the entire unit including the ian may be received in a carton of relatively small size to facilitate shipment and storage with minimumrequirements of space for maximum convenience and economy while maintaining the unit in fully assembled condition ready for use immediately after removal from the carton.

ln the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of the fan stand provided by this invention; A

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the stand of Fig. fan in position to direct air horizontally;

Fig. 3 is a partial side elevation of the stand seen in Fig. 1 with the fan in position to direct air vertically;

Fig. 4 is a partial section on an enlarged scale taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a partial section on an enlarged scale taken along line 5--5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a sectionaldetail of the locking means providing for vertical adjustment of the fan stand;

Fig. 7 is a partial section similar to Fig. 6 illustrating the locking means in unlocked position; and

Fig. 8 is a partial section showing the locking means in a reset position.

Referring to the drawing, which illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention, the fan stand provided by this invention includes a U-shaped base member 10 having the ends thereof formed to extend upwardly and forwardly of the base as integral bracing members 12 and 13. An axle 14 is secured at its opposite ends to the curved integral connections between base 10 and the bracing members 12 and 13 to complete the generally 1 with the arent rectangular outline of the base, the axle being mounted to hold them against axial displacement in cooperation with the washers. The axle is spaced above the plane of the base member 10 by a distance just suicient to 2,830,779 Patented Apr. 15, 1958 fine allow the wheels to support the' rear of the base just above the floor, and a button 19 is attached to the front of the base to provide a contact point thereon, thus elevating the entire base member slightly above the floor.

A pair of upright standards 20 and 21 project upwardly from the opposite sides of the base, are attached to the ends of the adjacent bracing members 12 and 13 respectively, and engage a fan supporting frame indicated generally at 22 and including a pair of depending legs or shaft members 23 which are telescopically received within the standards 20 and 21. The frame 22 also includes generally J-shaped handle portions 25 telescoped at one end 26 over legs 23 (Fig. 8), and secured thereto by pins 27. Reinforcing plates 28 are secured between each handle end 26 and the top of the handle.

The stand provided by this invention is especially adapted for use with a fan having a rectangular housing 31D, such as disclosed in the copending application of lohn B. Burrowes and Karl M. Ganger, Serial No. 210,676, filed February 13, 1951, and assigned to the same assignee as the present application. The fan housing 3i) is provided with a carrying handle 31, a control switch 32 at its top and a reinforcing strap 33, and apertures 34 in its sides receive a pair of bolts 3S (Fig. 5) each having an enlarged knob 36. Each of the plates 28 is provided with an aperture 40 for receiving the bolts 35, and a friction washer l2 of deformable material such as rubber or the like is received between the side walls 31 and each plate 28. Thus by tightening the bolts 35 into the fan housing apertures 34, the washers 42 may be compressed between the sides of the housing and the plates 28 to retain the fan in any tilted position relative tothe base member 1E) between positions directing air vertically and horizontally through a complete 360 as illustrated in Fig. 3.

The standards 20 and 21 are located suihciently o center with respect to the front and back of the base to locate the pivot bolts 35 in effectively centered relation with the base for maximum stability in use. Since the fan is symmetrical with respect to its housing 30, and apertures 34 are centered in the sides of the housing, the center of gravity of the fan remains within the vertical projection of the base at all times.

Thus it is possible to position the fan in any desired tilted arrangement to the base, and also, through the telescopic action of the standards 20 and 21 with the support legs 23, the elevation of the fan housing may be altered. Locking means 45 are provided in combina-` tion with each of the standards and support legs, and these locking means are constructed to permit movement of the legs in a vertically upward direction from the base normally while holding the legs against downward movement toward the base. The fan housing may thus be drawn upwardly from the base of the stand to the desired vertical position, whereupon release of the upward force upon the housing will result in locking of the fan at that level.

Figs. 6 8 illustrate a suitable construction and mode of operation for the locking means 45. Fig. 6 shows the locking means i5 in the locked position wherein the support leg 23 has been partially elevated. The locking means includes a cylindrical housing secured in the top of standard 2d within an enlarged upper end porupper sleeve 62 having a lower outwardly extending shoulder 63 thereon is loosely received through the opening 65 of disk 58. A plurality of rolling elements 66, such as ball bearings, are placed within the upwardly tapering opening 56 of the, housing 50, between the shoulder 63 and the wall-.ofthe tapered portion 56 and the legs 22.

A cylindrical sleeve 70 is secured to the bottom of leg 23 by a pin 71, and this sleeve is of such external diameter as to t snugly within the standard 20. In order to raise the stand, it is merely necessary to grasp the handle bar 25 or the sides of the fan casing and draw upwardly, whereupon the leg 23 will slide freely up within standard 2t), andsince the balls 66 are urged toward the open end of tapered portion 56, they offer no resistance to the movement of the leg 23. However, upon release of the leg the weight of sleeve 62 forces the balls into wedging engagement between the tapered wall 56 and the sides of leg 2.3, and the leg is held in the position at which it was released. Therefore, to adjust the fan vertically above base 10 it is necessary merely to pull it to the desired height and release it, and the locking means automatically maintains the fan at the height desired.

To return the stand to its lowermost position it is only necessary to pull the legs 23 upwardly until they are fully extended, which condition is illustrated in Fig. 7. At this point the sleeve 70 engages split sleeve 60 and forces it upwardly within housing 50, carrying the balls 66 upwardly into the widened end of tapered opening 56 and releasing the wedging engagement of the balls between leg 23 and the tapered opening. Sleeve 60 is maintained in this adjusted position by reason of its frictional engagement with the lower opening and so the locking means is released and the legs 23 may be telescoped within standards 20 and 21 until they reach their lowermost position, whereupon the locking means is reset as illustrated in Fig. 8.

Upon complete lowering of the stand, the end portion 26 of handle 25 engages sleeve 62 and urges it downwardly into tapered opening 56. The balls are also forced downwardly and in their downward movement thrust the split sleeve back into lower opening 55 to its initial position as seen in Fig. 6. This resets the locking means and the stand may be again raised to any desired intermediate elevation.

It will thus be seen that the present invention provides a portable fan stand which is simple and economical to manufacture and which is easily and accurately adjusted both vertically and tiltably about a horizontal axis. The

height of the fan relative to a window, for instance, can

be easily changed and the can can be positioned to draw air in through the window or to blow it out of the window, and in addition the fan `can be adjusted to circulate the air through an intinite number of angles upwardly or downwardly from horizontal. the fan supporting frame affords a quick and accurate horizontal adjustment without interfering with the tilting adjustment of the fan, and especially with minimum requirements of etfort on the part of the user, as contrasted, for example, with a stand wherein the user must support the weight of the fan with one hand while attempting to operate a lock screw or the like with the other hand. lu addition, since the fan is secured to the stand by only two bolts, it may be readily removed for use without the stand if so desired.

An additional practical advantage of this stand construction is its adaptability to a smaller space for packing or storage. More specifically, with the upper frame 22 formed as shown with handles 25 extending horizontally and lying within the vertical projection of the base, when the fan is in horizontal position as shown in Fig. 3- and the handle is moved to its lowermost position, the entire assembly is easily packed in a single carton of minimum size while requiring no assembly of the unit after unpacking. This possibility of the use of a small The locking means for carton reduces both the cost of packing and shipment and also the amount of space required for shipment and storage, thus adding advantages of economy and convenience to the other useful features of the invention.

While the form of apparatus herein described constitutes a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this precise form of apparatus, and that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention which is dened in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An adjustable fan stand of the character described for use with a fan including a housing of predetermined proportions, comprising a base including a pair of tubular upright standard members spaced to receive said fan housing therebetween, fan supporting means constructed for connection with opposite sides of said fan housing and including a pair of dependent shaft members telescopingly received in said standard members, locking means carried by said telescoping members including portions normally cooperating to prevent relative downward movement of said shaft members while providing for free upward movement of said shaft members with respect to said standard members to raise said fan housing, means responsive to movement of said shaft members to the top limit position thereof for releasing said locking means to provide for free downward movement of said shaft members, and means responsive to movement of said shaft members to the lowermost limit position thereof for resetting said locking means for normal locking movement in response to subsequent upward movement of said shaft members.

2. An adjustable fan stand of the character described for use with a fan having a rectangular housing, comprising a base of generally rectangular outline, a pair of upright standard members on said base spaced to receive said housing therebetween, a fan supporting frame including a pair of generally horizontally extending handle portions and a pair of depending shaft members telescopingly engaged with said standard members, means adjacent the junction of said handle portions of said shaft members forming pivotal mountings for connection with opposite sides of said fan housing and providing for rotation of said fan housing through substantially 360, said standard members and said handle portions being located in predetermined oil-center relation with said base establishing said pivotal mounting in substantially centered relation with said base and retaining both said handle portion and the center of gravity of said fan housing within the vertical projection of said base in all adjusted positions of said fan, locking means carried by said telescoping members including portions normally cooperating to prevent relative downward movement of said shaft members while providing for free upward movement of said shaft members with respect to said standard members to raise said fan housing, means responsive to movement of said shaft members to the top limit position thereof for releasing said locking means to provide for free downward movement of said shaft members, and means responsive to movement of said shaft members to the lowermost limit position thereof for resetting said locking means for normal locking movement in response to subsequent upward movement of said shaft members.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 154,703 Phillips Aug. 2, 1949 1,879,211 Hail Sept. 27, 1932 2,052,520 Mall Dec. 1, 1936 2,383,056 Hendricks Oct. 30, 1945 2,521,920 Kock Sept. 12, 1950 2,658,777 Rauglas Nov. 10, 1953 2,795,388 Myers June 11, 1957 

